Sunday, August 31, 2008

When I noticed that quiet in the house, I imagined the littlest Zeli was upstairs drawing all over (with only his Crayola magic Color Wonder markers. . .love those. . .). . .

And found him at the top of the steps. . .somewhat covered in white. . .

A cwue all better. . .

All better?

He held up the two little felt pawprints, also all white. All cween. Cwue all better. And that smile.

His face smeared in white. Little hands all white. Little clues all white.

I washed it.

In toothpaste. Jack's toothpaste, to be exact. The one that kinda does look like the soap dispenser. That never worked quite right and leaks out the bottom all the time. The one that is practically empty now, with the contents smeared all over the bathroom sink, the clues, and little Luke.

He walked down the steps smiling.

And I found him in the living room. With kleenaxes, wiping his face, the clues, his hands (and trying to blow his little nose, bless his heart).

Jack's happy for a four day weekend; Sam, a three. I'm happy to have my house full of noisy, excited boys.

We unanticipatedly spent the day in Monroeville yesterday. A quick trip to get Sam his first snowboard (a great sale, but sadly, no snow yet) and me some paper (for my class project) turned into an all-day affair. . . With lunch at the chicken house (aka Chik-fil-A). . .

And a new couch!

A new couch, baby! Very exciting. We went Monday to Levins in Mt Pleasant expecting to order a sectional that our growing family could fit on (yep, the green couch just won't fit us all anymore. . .). . . And, a last minute just for fun measurement (thank goodness we measured!) proved our new room arrangement and new furniture weren't going to work out.

Very disappointed. . .

So, on a whim, we stopped at the Levin's in Monroeville to check out the sales. . . And walked out with a new couch and chair. To be delivered Friday. . .

How exciting. Actual grown up furniture. That matches =0]

Amazing how those little things that you wait for (after 15 years of marriage) turn out to be so fulfilling. Just fill you up with joy and happiness. Our first couch was a hand me down from Aunt Renee's house. A wooden, uncomfortable nightmare, with matching chair. I tried covering the scratchy plaid with fabric. Cow fabric to be exact (my farm phase. . .). Then, green and plaid sheets that I caught on sale at Gabriel's. . . Then, when we bought the house, we also decided to finally get a couch. . . Green corduroy from Montgomery Wards. . .back in the clearance section for $400. . . and we thought we hit the big time. No chair, however. Same wooden nightmare chair. Which eventually disappeared. . .replaced by my great grandmother's rocking chair.But, we can't all sit and watch tv anymore. Just not enough room with those growing boys. So, we're very excited.Little Lukey didn't fare so well yesterday. He seemed to be a little warm all morning. And just kinda laid around wherever we went. Wanting carried. Poor boy. Came home to a 102ish temperature. . . a little Tylenol later, and he spent the evening playing trains and watching toons.Today: Lukey's temp is gone. The sun is shining. Sam's on a morning run. And the day could take us anywhere. . .

Friday, August 29, 2008

I heard the melody from a harmonica as Sam left this morning. . . Our little Luke has taken a shine to Jack's harmonica (after finding it on Jack's nightstand), and has spent the past few days playing it at odd intervals. . .smiling after he plays each little toddler tune, blowing as hard as he can. . .

And then quiet. . .

And then Jack arose (he hasn't yet figured out the fine art of sleeping in on your day off from school yet. . .) for morning Legos and pancakes.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

drying leaves, from the neighbor's tree down the street. . . blown so casually up the road, whispering the coming of autumn. . .

Leaves.

When the flowers of summer disappear, he gives me handfuls of leaves. I love them all. Brown and crunchy. . . and green. . . yellow. . . and soon, oranges and reds. . .

They bring back memories of jumping in those huge piles raked under the neighbor's giant maples. . . the sweet smells of fall. . . burying myself under their fragrance, and peeking at the patches of blue sky. . .

Favorite memories. . .

18 beautiful leaves.

And one retrieved from his pocket the day before. He handed it to me as he came bounding off the bus.

A yellow maple leaf. Small veins of green. Still soft in my palm. . .

I imagine he found it outside at recess. And he carefully put it away in his pocket, the keeper of all little boy treasures. . . Thinking of his Mama. . . in the midst of his recess adventures. . .

to life without a big brother all day long is a little difficult. . . .

Jack woke up not so happy this morning. . . so tired. . . our big boy is not so much the morning guy. Unhappy about a day so long away from home. Quiet, pensive at the bus stop. A small wave out the window as the bus departed.

And little Luke. Happy this morning searching for clues. And then quiet. Drinking milk. Watching toons. A little too quiet. And I discovered our little Davinci using our newly painted living room wall as his Sistene Chapel.

Moving on to the disaster of no more milk.

Insistence on new twack, Mama.And that Percy needed new batteries (even though she appears to be running just fine).

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

and the first day was wonderful. He was off the bus, smiling from ear to ear. Loved being with kids his own age all day long. Loved lunch (he ate everything I packed!) and recess. Went to the bathroom many times. Had his very own desk. Two children from his Kindergarten class in his new class. So much fun!

Day two: Not so much. Too many rules to listen to. Not enough time to play at gym class. No one would play with him at recess. He wanted the jump rope (to be Indiana Jones with his whip, of course) at recess and some boy would not let him have it.

Amazingly, he woke up with a smile this morning.

I assured him that today would be a good day, because he would make it a good one.

Monday, August 25, 2008

He left minutes ago on the bus. So very excited to ride the bus again. . . both ways this year. He could barely contain it. . .waiting impatiently for the bus to arrive.

Dressed in his new Wall-E shirt (everyone is going to love my shirt. . .he told me as he dressed this morning). With his Speed Racer backpack and lunch box. Which I way overpacked with goodies. How do you know how much to pack? Mama that I am, worried that he would be starving at lunch time. . . I stuffed it to capacity with his ham sandwich, cheese stick, grapes, a tomato from his garden, pizza goldfish, and a dinosaur Eat n Park cookie. Way too much, I know. . . but all of his favorite goodies to make him feel a little closer to home.

Little bits of tears. My baby. . . growing and moving forward.

Waking him up in his bed this morning. . . I remember when we put him to bed in it the first time. His big boy bed. . . and he was so excited. He awoke, all smiles about today. So happy to be back to school.

Me, fearing he will think the day too long. . . Worried about him so far from our protective care. . . And Lukey at home to scuff around on his own, for the first time. . .

It's so quiet. . .

But, Jack is so ready to discover the world. So full of questions about how everything works. . . how the world operates. . . why things are the way they are. . . Questions, all day long. . . His mind is ready. . . .craving. . . .this new mental stimulation. . .

Sunday, August 24, 2008

rescuing hippos. . .flying airplanes and helicopters. . .and a downed Diego sent to the hospital for falling off the Rescue Center Roof (apparently breaking his arms, legs, back, head, and butt. . .the report from the emergency room was that they were checking him out, and hoping that he hadn't broken his eyes as well). . .

One of the highlights of the race is the crowd participation. So many people along the way cheering you (and those cute little puppies) along. Ringing bells. Playing music. Love the music part. Violin. Keyboard. Trumpet. Love it.

Max? Not so much. The gunshot made him. . . well, gunshy. And I had to plead. Threaten. Pull. And finally, carry. And let me tell you, that little boy. . . 50 pounds. . . Not so light. . .

But, he was very good around the other dogs. And we had a wonderful time.

Monday, August 11, 2008

(we took a long walk last night with both dogs and the boys. . .wonderful. . .haven't taken a family walk in ages. . . and Luke was so full of energy!. . .he walked the whole way pushing his buggy. . .almost running. . .without complaint. . . and up the huge Zeli hill ahead of the rest of us without pausing once to catch breath. . .he's an athlete in training, I tell you. . .)

But, she was raring to go once we got home. She's been goading her brother all morning. . .

Pushing him around, ready for the gazpacho!

Taunting him, chewing his beloved rawhide in front of him. . .

And laying in his favorite spot in the house. . .

She loves to be the Queen Bee. . . and he indulges her without complaint.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Construction has been extended to the living/dining room floor. There has been many of these c0nstructions lately. Although, this one seems to stretch for many Sodor miles. . . with lots of ups and downs. . . I think it's the longest that I have seen so far.

Wally and Eva joined LegoLandians today. . . spending much of the afternoon in search of treasures and trinkets for Wally's little house (which happens to also be the garage of the Lego Super Station. . .which has also been a fire station, police station, Indy's house, a space station, a prison. . . those LegoLandians are very versatile with their structures). . . Right now, Wally and Eva are hurriedly making adaptations to their new home before the big storm hits.

In his palm he clutched his front bottom baby tooth. . . smiling, revealed the hole where it was before we put him to bed the night before.

So small. . .

I was very surprised when he told me two weeks prior (while I was driving, of course), that he had somehow broken his tooth by putting a bottle in his mouth.

Are you sure it's broken? I asked.

Yep. It moved when I pulled the bottle out. It isn't in it's place.

And the light dawned. It must be loose. His first. So exciting. . . And he's growing. . . so fast. . . I knew this would be coming soon. All of his friends were loosing teeth all during the school year. . . But it still takes a Mama by surprise that her baby isn't so small anymore. . .

After he showed us his tooth Friday, he hopped back in bed. It was pretty early for our late sleeper, so I thought he was going back to sleep.

Sam started to get ready for work. And I took Max for our morning walk (Dude decided to sleep in as well).

During our walk, Max jumped at a rabbit as it disappeared in the bushes. Only to emerge on the other side as a cute and fluffy skunk. Don't you know I pulled him out onto the street.

No way, buddy, I said. Not this morning you don't.

Luckily, it disappeared around the side of the house and we were on our way. Quickly.

And we made it home without incident. Sam was having breakfast in the new living room. (Loving it.) And Jack reappeared. Crestfallen.

She didn't come. He said.

The tooth fairy? I asked. And he nodded his head. Oh, buddy. She's done for the day now. She only comes late, late, late at night. Don't you worry. She'll come tonight when you are sound asleep.

And she did. The tooth fairy made her first visit to the Zeli house (although I'm feeling a little cheated that she didn't come for my pulled tooth several weeks ago. . .will have to talk to her about that one).

And, she left a trail of magic sparkles from the front door (where she came in the house) to Jack's bed. And all over his pillow and his tooth pillow. Which contained a handful of precious quarters (six of them to be exact). Our little Jack was so excited. And so cute with sparkles all over his face.

I can tell the tooth fairy was here. She left golden sparkles. See?

We followed her trail out his door and down the steps. And was surprised to see that even Max was covered in sparkles.

A delightful morning in the Zeli house. And a wonderful way to start a boy birthday day.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Sam and I sat on the porch together. . . loving those late summer evenings. . . growing dark, and watching the fireflies. . . and we reminisced. . . .Six years ago. . .So big with Jack. . . and I remember getting up so early in the morning. . . And believe me, I was not a morning person before him (or ever). . . but I woke up so early to shower before my induction time.Nervous. . .and so excited to meet our little Jack Sprat. . . finally. . . .We had tried for six years to get pregnant. . . An eternity of watching everyone else have babies but us. . . And the pain of wanting our own little one. . .And the overwhelming joy when those two lines turned blue. . .instantly. . .and it was so hard to believe. . .What a journey to that morning six years ago. . .Driving into the hospital that morning. . . My head buzzy with fear and joy. . .Getting into the hospital. . .and told to wait. . .they were busy, and maybe they would have a room . . . And the trepidation that perhaps today wasn't the day. . .But it was. And they found room rather quickly. . . Breathing through those early contractions. . .that got harder and scarier and then one after the other, on top of each other. . . thinking I could never make it. . . and the tease of the epidural at 1 pm. . . and waiting for a whole hour until the doctor was available. . . and the immediate relief. . . and a small nap and watching cartoons while the epidural worked it's magic.And then it was time to push. . . for three hours. . . and that little boy was not going anywhere through my little hips. . .And how I cried when the doctor told me they would have to use forceps. . . because I hadn't done my job. . . and I was afraid. . . but it was fine. . . And out our little Jack came.He was beautiful. . .

He wasn't ready to turn 6. He liked being five. He wasn't ready to change all the things that he had grown to love and become someone new. Someone 6.

He loved dressing the part of Indiana Jones and chasing bad guys. . .loving puppies and taking care of them, dreaming of the day of being a veterinarian (but only if that means never having to move out of our home. . .). . .building legos. . .and playing video games. . .watching fun toons and breakfasting on chocolate chip pancakes. . .a world where every little thing is quite magical. . . and maybe you can fly like Peter Pan, or catch a bird. . .

Dark brown eyes. . . a deep cup almost overflowing with that small stream of tears for dreams and childhood magic. . .so much like the sparkling stream where he and his Dada catch summer salamanders. . .

My heart breaking for a little boy that I want to hold in my palms forever. . . my little Peter Pan who will never grow up. . . who still slips his hand in mine when we cross the street. . .

And I. . . Mama. . . assured him that the magical won't disappear. . . That he will still love all the very things that he loves right now. . . That he will still be that same little boy. . . That 6 is a day to celebrate that little boy we waited for. . .for so very long. . .and that we are so happy that he is finally here. . .

Monday, August 4, 2008

Batman (who insisted he have Batman pjs. . .like his little brother) decided on having french toast this morning.

He also mused on what Batman uses his bat for (logic: Indy always carries his whip. . .so Batman must always carry a bat. . . wonder what he uses the bat for?. . .).

Bat Boy (so he wouldn't be confused with the senior Bat Man) had the Fiber One little sample cereal box that came with the Sunday paper last week. . .that boy loves cereal of all kinds). . . Until he saw that Batman was having french toast. . .

His language skills have taken off in the last couple weeks. All of the sudden he's putting all kinds of little thoughts and sentences together. Loving it. Love knowing his little boy thoughts and how the world looks through his beautiful (different colored) eyes.

We dropped off the dogs Thursday evening at Patti's. . . (for their doggy vacation. . .Max loves to go and play with the other dogs. . .Dude loves to go and cabitz. . .). . .

Friday, Sam and I gathered and sorted and packed the Jeep to capacity. . . We were sitting among blankets and pillows and trains and goodies. . . And out on the road in the early afternoon headed to the mountains to camp.

Friday was beautiful. The boys had a blast splashing in the stream. And running around in the dirt.

Before we left home, Lukey was doing his usual laps around the yard with his buggy. As Sam packed the back of the Jeep, he brought his beloved buggy to Sam, and parked it at the back of the Jeep.

Bring buggy wiff us, he said, before climbing into his seat in the backseat.

So sweet.

We excitedly had found a buggy replacement for Luke (because his buggy right now is held together with popsicle sticks and duct tape) for his birthday. But, seeing it sitting there before we left, with one wheel hanging by a plastic thread. . . . We knew it wouldn't last. . . So we brought out the new one.

And both boys loved it. They spent hours playing with the little boxes inside. Buying Go Tarts, pocksickles, cookies, fruit, waffles. . . And then fighting about them minutes later (ah, sibling love).

Indy came along to. With his whip, of course. Chasing scores of bad guys. Having many adventures. He wore his grey suit at times (when it was very hot), and then switched back to his brown suit.

Sam made a great dinner (chicken and rice. . .so yummy. . .). And a huge, beautiful fire. . . And we made so many smores. . . Jack had a blast toasting his own marshmallows. Eating them, grinning and sticky fingers. Little boy joy. . .

For some reason, I didn't get a picture. But, the Zeli's had their first official night in a tent. (Make that one official, for the record.). So comfy on the air mattress. . . Until it started to rain. All night long. . . And lightning. . . And the tent began to leak. . . And I began to break out in an allergic reaction to my medication rash. . .

It's always something when we go camping. . .Have I told you about our Ohio trip and the tornado?